Returning to work?

[Kate123cl]

Hi all, tried to google this but answers weren't very clear so hoping someone may be able to help on here!
I'm only 9 weeks pregnant currently and absolutely resent my job! I've been here just over 2 years. I'm planning on going on maternity leave in December and then back to work whenever I need to go back does anyone know how long you have to be back in work to still qualify for maternity pay? Is it 3 weeks? Is it 6 months? if I take maternity leave and then not go back will they deduct my SMP? Hope this all makes sense! Also posted this in the work thread

I think you're getting mixed up between statutory pay and any enhanced your company offers. You don't have to go back at all to get SMP - it's yours, whether or not you go back. However, most workplace enhanced schemes that pay above SMP do require you to go back for a certain amount of time - mine is three months, but it will vary from company to company. However, if you didn't do this all they could demand back is the enhanced pay over statutory - the SMP portion isn't theirs to claim back from you. Does that make sense? So you can't Google an answer because it depends on your company - you need to find their own policy and what it says about enhanced pay (if any) and the conditions attached to it.